Ruby: "Penny, I-I don't understand." She spoke, trying to cope with they just found out.

Penny: "Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." She explained. Then, she turned her head to the side sadly as she closed her palms. "I'm not real."

(YN): "Penny." He reached out, holding Penny's hands open first, but then closes them while still holding them. "You ARE real. How you were born makes no difference to us." He comforted. "You're just a normal girl with cool robot parts, and you're just as alive as any other normal person."

Ruby: "He's right." He agreed with (YN). "You think just because you got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me or (YN)?"

Penny: "I don't, um.." She leaned in to their faces, surprised how they both seemed calm. "You two are taking this extraordinarily well." She noted confusingly.

(YN): "You're not like those androids we saw back there." He stated, gesturing back towards the city "You've got something that they don't: a heart and a soul." He added with a friendly smile, pointing at her chest where her heart would be.

Ruby: "It's true, Penny." She added in agreement. "I can feel it. We both do."

Penny: "Oh... Oh, Ruby, (YN)!" She grabbed both of their heads and pulled them into a tight hug. "You two are the best friends anyone could have!" She smiled over-joyfully, shaking back and forth in the process.

(YN): "Don't mention it." He groaned, straining in the tight embrace.

Ruby: "I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower." She muffled, groaning painfully.

Penny: "Oh, he's VERY sweet. My father's the one that built me. I'm sure you would just love him." Penny says.

(YN): "Wow. He really built you all by himself?" He asked in amazement.

Penny: "Well almost. He had some help from Mr. Ironwood." She explained.

Ruby: "The general? Wait, is that why those soldiers were after you?" She questioned.

Penny: "They like to protect me too." She explained, smiling in response.

(YN): "Yeah, they don't think you can protect yourself?" He questioned, scoffing.

Penny: "They're not sure if I'm ready yet. One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the tournament."

Ruby: "Penny, what are you talking about?" She asked, getting confused. "Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace."

Penny: "That's not what Mr. Ironwood said." She

???: "Check down here!" Shouted a voice nearby, causing the trio to look over with widened eyes.

(YN): "Oh, no." He breathed out.

Penny: "You two have to hide!" She said, grabbing both Ruby and (YN) by the shoulders.

(YN): "Woah! Penny, what're-" He yelped. Ruby squeaked as she lifted them above her head effortlessly, walking towards a nearby dumpster. "Hey! Put us down!" He yelled as he and Ruby struggled to get out of her grasp as she continued on.

Ruby: "Penny, Gah! What are you doing?!" She shrieked, flailing around. "You don't have to go with them, We can help YOU!" Penny threw the two of them into the dumpster and the lid falls shut. She lifted the lid a little bit to look at them.

Penny: "It's okay, guys." She reassured them. "They're not bad people, I just don't want you to get in trouble. Just promise me you two won't tell anyone about my secret, okay?" She whispered, gravely staring at them.

Ruby: "We promise." She promised.

(YN): "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with us." He smiled softly before Penny closes the lid, but Ruby cracked it open a bit.

Atlas Soldier 1: "There she is!" He pointed at Penny as they ran up to her.

Penny: "Sal-u-tations, officers." She greeted the two soldiers, playing dumb.

Atlas Soldier 1: "Why were you running?" He questioned Penny. "And what happened to the other two that were with you?"

Penny: "What other two people? I've been by myself all day." She lied, making herself hiccup loudly from it and covering her mouth before placing her hands behind her back, smiling.

Atlas Soldier 1: "You shouldn't cause such a scene." He scolded, groaning.

Atlas Soldier 2: "Are you okay?" He asked.

Penny: "Just a scratch." She assured, showing them her hands, but they get a little worried.

Atlas Soldier 1: "Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this." He warned her.

Atlas Soldier 2: "Please, just come with us." He requested.

Penny: "Yes sir!" She grinned, and they then walk away.

(YN): "They're gone." He whispered to Ruby, who looked on in sadness as she watched Penny walk away.

Ruby opened the lid further and (YN) hopped out of the dumpster. Ruby was about to hop out too when she heard a rat screeching below her feet, which caused Ruby to freak out, falling down in the dumpster and closing the lid on herself in the process. (YN) couldn't help but chuckle from her reaction.

(YN): "Ruby," He opened the lid. "it's just a rat." He soothed. Ruby quickly jumped out of the dumpster, hugging him tightly.

Ruby: "Just a rat?!" She repeated, freaking out. "They're just so gross and yucky!" She then heard the rat screeching from the dumpster, causing her squeal in fright, and let go of (YN) before she zoomed around the area, gathering wooden planks to border it up to keep the rat imprisoned. "That should do it!" She panted heavily.

(YN): "Calm down, Ruby." He comforted her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath." Ruby did as he told her, and finally calmed down. He looked up at the sky to it was getting dark. "I think Weiss is done with her call and I can access police database from my Scroll so nothing is lost." He stated, and turned to Ruby. "Looks like we have some free time. Let's go somewhere, just you and me." He suggested, smiling.

Ruby: "Really?" She asked.

(YN): "Yeah. There's a bakery not too far from here." He said, pointing in the direction of the bakery on his Scroll. "They got cookies there. So, do you wanna go? My treat."

Ruby: "YES!" She answered, exploding with happiness, making (YN) jumped a little and chuckled.

(YN): "Alright, let's go." He began to walk ahead until Ruby suddenly jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

Ruby: "To the bakery, we go!" She cheered happily, pointing ahead. (YN) smiled and shook his head, letting out a soft chuckle, and carried Ruby as he walked out of the alleyway.

|—————————|—————————|

Later that evening, in the ruined parts of Vale, the sound of an engine gets closer and closer until Yang pulled into the street with Bumblebee, with Neptune riding along, and came to a stop at the side of the road. She took off her helmet and shook her hair a bit to get it back in place.

Yang: "Come on, my friend's right in here!" She urged, gesturing her thumb to the music playing nearby.

Yang gets off the bike, showing that Neptune was sitting right behind her, hair and goggles messed up with a petrified expression of terror on his face.

Neptune: "Cool..." He responded weakly, sounding dizzy. He then shook his head, somehow perfectly fixing his appearance, and gets off the bike. "And where exactly IS... here?" He asked, looking around worriedly.

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, inside the building, which turned out to be a nightclub, the owner, Hei "Junior" Xiong, who happens to be Yang's "friend", stood behind the bar as he adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves with a smile as he looked around. He wears a black vest over a white dress shirt, a red tie, black gloves and black dress pants. He has gray eyes, short black hair, along with a matching beard and mustache, and was exceptionally tall.

Around the club, Junior's henchmen were stocking bottles, carrying boxes around, and otherwise just standing around on the otherwise empty dance floor, getting ready for the night. Techno music was playing while red and white lights are flickering on and off on the dance floor. But then suddenly, two of Junior's henchmen ran into the nightclub, clearly in panic.

Henchman: "Hurry, close the door! She's coming!" He shouted as he and the other henchman rolled the doors shut them closed again in a panic.

Junior: "What are you two idiots doing?!" He questioned harshly, walking out from the bar.

The henchman began shouting incoherently until an explosion knocked both of them out and blasts open the door behind them. That was when Yang casually walked in through the smoke of the explosion.

Yang: "Guess who's back!" She greeted them, smiling with her eyes closed and posing, only to have eight guns pointing in her face

Though this doesn't face her, Yang opened her eyes and stopped smiling and looked past the guards pointing guns at her and looked back at the recording studio where the track is messing up until the DJ, whose wearing a black and red bear head on his own, who fearfully lifted his head and then pulled the needle off the record player, before dropping his head again behind the table in fear.

Neptune: "Yeah, so could you define "friend" for me?" He asked, appearing behind Yang, looking at all the guns pointed at the two of them.

Junior: "Stop, stop! Nobody shoot." He ordered his way through the crowd of goons, straightening his tie. "Blondie, you're here! ...Why?" He asked nervously, not wanting to have his club destroyed again.

Yang: "You still owe me a drink." She reminded Junior while pointing at him, and grabbed Junior by the arm, dragging him to the bar through the hired guns.

Neptune: "Whoa-ho-ho-ho, what a woman..." He remarked, lovestruck for a moment, before staring to see the twins Melanie and Miltia Malachite standing beside him. "'Sup?" He greeted coolly.

Melanie/ Miltia: "Hmph." They harrumphed, turning their heads together away from Neptune and walked away with their noses in the air. "Whatever."

|—————————|—————————|

Meanwhile, Blake's fingers traced along three white scratch marks on the wall of a building before she peeked around the corner. In the alleyway, Blake saw two horned Faunus approach a side door. From there, the pair was ushered inside by a bearded man. Knowing they were in the right location.

Blake: "This is it." She informed Sun, turning to him.

Sun: "You sure?" He queried. Blake only glared at him.  "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it." He corrected himself, instantly brought his hands in surrender, and Blake started moving towards the entrance while unfastening her bow.

After the bearded man ushered the two inside, having not found anything about them suspicious, both Blake and Sun found themselves in a rather big hallway filled with cases and shelves. At the end of the hallway, they saw a White Fang member telling the pair that walked in before them to keep to the right.

Sun: "I don't get it." He holds out the half-mask in his hand. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?" He asked.

Blake: "The masks are a symbol." She explained a little darkly. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."

Sun: "Grimm masks... That's kind of dark." He commented bluntly.

Blake: "So was the guy who started it." She replied before putting her mask on and walked on.

Sun: "Always sunshine and rainbows with you..." He remarked sarcastically, and followed her lead.

The new recruits to the White Fang are moving in a line to the side of the stage, a mere few dozen compared to the hundreds of white-vested, black-hooded soldiers to their left and up above in the balconies.

Blake and Sun look around themselves when they stop, and a man with a muscular man with short black hair came up to the stage. He wears the standard pants and black gloves of other White Fang members, but his forearms have metal guards. He also has a distinctive top with a collar that sticks up around his neck and lacks the buttoned look of the standard garb. He wears a custom Grimm Mask that covers his whole face and has red eyes with thin red streaks streaming to the bottom of the mask, and bears several black tattooed designs on his left arm.

White Fang Lieutenant: "Thank you all for coming." He began, walking around on the stage in front of the banner "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" He gestured towards one side of the banner.

From there, Roman Torchwick, smiling confidently while tapping his cane on the stage, walked out from behind the banner, revealing himself to the gathered crowd as they started to protest his presence.

Roman: "Thank you, thank you!" He grinned, waving mockingly as he approached the center of the stage. "Please, hold your applause!"

Antler Faunus: "What's a human doing here?!" She demanded angrily, pointing at Roman from her place right in front of Blake and Sun.

Roman: "I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"!" He replied smugly, gazing down at her. "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst." He saluted, naming himself as an example. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"

Sun: "So, is he going somewhere with this?" He asked quietly, leaning over to Blake.

Roman: "But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I ALL have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" He went on as the crowd changed their tune and started agreeing with him. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!"

Hearing this, the crowd cheered while Sun and Blake shared a look, not liking where Roman was going with this whatsoever.

Roman: "And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room." He looked behind himself as he snapped his fingers.

Then, the large banner was pulled backwards over what was behind it, revealing a massive, gray Atlesian Paladin-290 behind it, the mark of the White Fang painted on its shoulder. Seeing this, the whole mass of Faunus applauded and cheered at the sight of the battlemech. Blake and Sun's eyes widened in shock.

Sun: "Whoa, that's a big robot..." He quivered.

Blake: "How did he get that?" She questioned.

Roman: "As some of you may have heard, this right here..." He continued, tapping his fist on the Paladin's left knee. "is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, hit the shelves." He revealed proudly. "Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" The White Fang's roaring applause tells him the answer.

Blake: "We should get out of here." She whispered to Sun.

White Fang Lieutenant: "Will all new recruits, please come forward!" He instructed.

Suddenly, the line Blake and Sun were in surged forward towards the stage, making the two follow.

Sun: "Welp!" Was all he could mutter.

|—————————|—————————|

Back at the night club, Junior puts down his glass as he sits behind the bar, separating him from Yang.

Junior: "I don't know!" He spoke with a hand in his forehead.

Yang: "How can you not know?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

Junior: "I haven't talked to him! I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here." He stated. "He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back." He added, leaning over to point in Yang's face

Neptune: "So where did they go?" He inquired, rushing to Yang's side as Junior's glass fell over. Junior paused when he slowly turned to him.

Junior: "What kind of stupid question is that?" He retorted. "They never came back! Who is this guy?" He demanded, gesturing his left thumb at Neptune.

Yang: "Don't worry about him." She pushed Neptune out of the way with one hand. "Worry about me, if I don't find out what I want!" She threatened as Neptune straighten himself and stands to attention.

Junior: "I already told you everything!" He reaffirmed. "Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is SOMETHING I can relate to!" He shouted at his own men, who grumble and walked away in response.

Yang: "Come on, Neptune." She turned from the bar and walk away.

Neptune: "We get everything we need?" He asked, following Yang with his hands in his pockets.

Yang: "Well, we got everything we can." She replied as they walk to the exit. "Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."

|—————————|—————————|

At a park in the city, (YN) and Ruby were sitting on a bench as they eat their bags of cookies from the bakery they bought while watching the scenery. (YN) was looking through the police database on his Scroll to see nothing connecting Torchwick with the White Fang.

(YN): "There's nothing." He muttered. "No connection between Roman and the White Fang." He then sighed and put his Scroll away before looking at Ruby, who was shoving cookie after cookie into her mouth. "Ruby, I think you have a problem." Ruby stopped inhaling the cookies to turn to him.

Ruby: "No I don't! I just love cookies!" She countered. "They're amazing!" (YN) chuckled at her stubbornness before ruffling her hair.

(YN): "You definitely have a problem." He joked playfully. Ruby pouted before deciding to go back and inhale her cookies. He then took a of his cookie and took the view for a while. Ruby finally finished her cookies but stayed silent as they both sat on the bench enjoying each other's presence before he decided to disrupt the silence. "Hey, Ruby?" He spoke, getting her get her attention.

Ruby: "Yes, (YN)?" She responded.

(YN): "We never tell each other about our families." He said. Ruby thought for a moment.

Ruby: "No, we didn't." She agreed with him. "Do you want to?" She asked, and (YN) nodded.

(YN): "Well, you know my father, Godred, was an amazing Huntsman." He started off. "He is my role model of what being a real Huntsman means. He was my inspiration to become one just like him."

Ruby: "And your mom?" She asked.

(YN): "My mom, Rowena, is also a Huntress and a teacher at Signal." He added on. "She is very caring, but sometimes she can be strict. Both my parents attended Beacon, they met and then fell in love, and they formed Team GRNT, and my dad was the leader."

Ruby: "Wow." She wowed. "Your parents were on the same team?"

(YN): "Yeah." He nodded in confirmation. "After they graduated from Beacon, my dad took me on missions when I started training at four years old." He continued. "He was brave, caring, stood up for the weak and never refused to offer a hand for people in need. He tried helping everyone who needed help." The expression changed into a saddened frown. "Sadly, when I was six, he left for a mission and never returned home. Then I got a message couple of days later, saying that he perished." Ruby felt her heart tugged after hearing it. "When my mom heard about his death, she was devastated. He was her whole world. It took us a long while to move on, but he was still my hero."

Ruby: "I know how you feel." She spoke, causing (YN) to look at her. "My mom died when I was four. She was the best. She graduated from Beacon on the same team as my dad and Uncle Qrow, as well as Yang's mom. When she was alive, she would read me bedtime stories about heroes saving the day. She went off on missions while our dad taught at Signal Academy. He is a typical dad, you know. Making terrible puns that are worse than Yang's and other things." She explained, (YN) chuckled. "I think when my mom died, he was moved the most of us. I couldn't understand what happened because I was still too young. It was hard, but we've managed to get back on track. I visit her grave from time to time back on Patch. I still miss her, but I still have my dad, Uncle Qrow, and Yang with me. She loved us the most in the world." She made a frown and tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

Deciding to comfort her, (YN) wrapped one arm around her shoulder, and pulled her into a hug. Ruby was a little surprised by this, but hugged him back. The hug lasted for a while before they separated.

(YN): "I'm very sorry here that." He said in sincere. "Your mom must be very special to you." Ruby gave a single sad nod. "So, on the night we met Ozpin, he said he had seen one other scythe-wielder, is he talking about your uncle?" He recalled in remembrance, Ruby gave a nod as a response. "And you were trained by him?"

Ruby: "Yep!" She answered cheerfully. "Dad trained Yang while I trained with my uncle Qrow. And let me tell you, he is awesome! He tought me everything. I created Crescent Rose because he also use a scythe like me!"

(YN): "Really sounds like a cool guy." He commented.

Ruby: "Yeah." She turned away from him, closing her eyes. "He really is." She agreed, smiling as she opened them, looking up at the moon.

As Ruby kept staring at the moon, (YN) looked at her as his chest was beating fast as the familiar warm feeling came to him. Her eyes were shining on the reflection of the moonlight. (YN) kept staring at her as the feeling became warmer and warmer by the second. Ruby then noticed his staring.

Ruby: "What is it?" She asked with a giggle.

(YN): "Oh, uh, it-it's nothing." He assured Ruby, shaking his head. "It's... just..."

Ruby: "What?" She asked, tilting her head, curious why he trailed off.

(YN): "It's just that... I can't get over how beautiful your eyes are." He said at last. Ruby blushed at his comment.

Ruby: "Y-You like my eyes." She stuttered.

(YN): "Yeah." He answered honestly with a nod. "I've never seen anyone with silver eyes before. I thought... they look really beautiful." Ruby blushed even more.

Ruby: "Uh-uh, t-thank you." She thanked him for the compliment, and then looked away. "But you don't have to say things like that out of nowhere, and-"

(YN): "Ruby." He cut her off, placing a hand on hers, causing Ruby to look back at him. "It's the truth."

They looked at each other's eyes in silence. Their faces turned bright red and theirs heart started beating faster. Then, without realizing what they were doing, they both gave in and leaned in, until they stopped to look at each other again.

Ruby: "(YN)." She whispered, leaning in closer as she slowly closed her eyes.

(YN): "Ruby." He murmured, doing the same.

They slightly tilted their heads to the right, and stopped again. And then, they gently connected their lips together, forming their very first kiss. The kiss lasted about ten seconds, and in unison, they pulled away from each other, their lips a few inches apart and eyes slightly open. Then they closed their eyes again, leaned in towards each other and kissed again.

Their kissing session was very slow. Their lips were moving steadily in sync, and they breathed quietly through their noses. Their heartbeats have finally calm down, but the warm feeling remains. (YN) raised his right hand and gently cupped her cheek while placing his left on her waist. Ruby slowly snaked her arms around his back. He moved his left hand to the back of her head, his fingers running through her hair. Then he moved it to her back as he wrapped his right arm around her, pulling her into a hug. They kept on kissing for 5 minutes, until they separated again in need of air.

They stared into each other's eyes, but seconds later, they quickly realized what they had done as their faces became red hot. They immediately scooted away from each, looking away at opposite sides.

Ruby: 'Did we just do that?! Why did we do that?!' She questioned mentally in a panic state. 'I mean,' She moved her right hand to her mouth. 'it was nice- wait what am I saying?! Ahhhhh!' She placed both hands on her head. 'I just kissed a boy!!'

(YN): 'I just kissed a girl, I just kissed a girl, I just kissed a girl!!!' He freaked out mentally, also panicking, then covered his face with his hands. 'What do I do now? What do I even say in a situation like this?!'

After a few minutes of panicking inside their heads, they begin to calm down. They finally looked back at each other with slight blushes on their cheeks.

(YN): "W-We should probably, uh, leave and call the others to see if they got anything." He decided.

Ruby: "Y-Yeah, s-sure." She nodded in agreement.

And so, they got up from the bench, threw their empty bags away in the trashcan, and began to leave the park, without another word from each other.

|—————————|—————————|

The White Fang were still cheering loudly as the new recruits are marched to the stage, with Blake and Sun having no choice but to follow along.

Sun: "What are we going to do?!" He whispered to Blake.

Blake: "I'm thinking..." She whispered back, surveying the entire room.

Sun watched Roman leaning against one of the Paladin's legs while smoking his cigar before he zeroes in on the two in disguise, frowning.

Sun: "He sees us..." He whimpered quietly. Roman threw his cigar away as he started to walk towards them, and he tried to smile and wave. Blake then noticed a junction box on the wall.

Blake: "He can't see in the dark." She smirked, and unsheathed her weapon, quickly transforming it into pistol form, and shot the box, making all of the lights in the warehouse flickered before going out entirely.

Roman: "Don't let them get away!" He commanded in the dark.

Blake: "Sun! The window!" She exclaimed, pointing at a nearby window.

Roman: "Stop them!" He ordered as he got into the Atlesian Paladin and powered it up.

|—————————|—————————|

Blake and Sun burst through the window, landing with a roll on the ground before sprinting away from the warehouse as fast as they could. All of the sudden, the Atlesian Paladin crashed through the warehouse wall as it ran after them.

Blake and Sun both launched off the roof of a nearby car, landing on top of a nearby warehouse as they ran across the roof, with Roman giving chase from the streets below as they entered the city streets. Even at top speed, the Paladin was  able to keep up with the duo on the roof, who were jumping and flipping from rooftop to rooftop.

Sun: "So you wouldn't happen to have... oh, I don't know... some form of BACKUP?!" He exclaimed, amidst to the twirling in the air.

Blake: "On it!" She quickly grabbed her Scroll and puts it to her ear as she continued to jump.

|—————————|—————————|

Weiss was just leaving the CCT tower's elevator when she grabbed her own Scroll and listened to Blake's message.

Blake(Scroll-call): "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-" She began.

Sun(Scroll-call): "HEEEELLLLP!" He yelled in the background.

Hearing this, Weiss rolled her eyes and started running out the door, a little smile on her face as she does so.

|—————————|—————————|

(YN) and Ruby just exit the park when they got the call, and they starred at her Scroll.

Sun (Scroll-call): "Big killer robot! And it's big! REALLY BIG!" He went on, exclaiming.

(YN): "Robot?" He repeated, confused. But then memory flashed in his eyes and his eyes widened at what Sun was talking about. "That sounds like the Atlesian Paladin!" He realized.

Ruby: "Oh, I am NOT missing this!" She beamed excitedly. "Let's go, (YN)!" And they ran off to join the fight.

|—————————|—————————|

Yang is back on her motorcycle in her helmet and sunglasses on with Neptune looking at the Scroll in her hand over her shoulder.

Sun (Scroll-call): "That Torchwick guy is in it!" He yelled at them. "But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!"

Yang: "Where are you guys?" She inquired, and right on cue, Blake and Sun ran through the street with the Paladin hot on their heels, right behind them.

Sun: "HURRYYYY!!!" He screamed in both person and on the Scroll before they all disappeared from Yang and Neptune's view.

Neptune: "I think that was them." He claimed, looking back at Yang.

Yang: "Yeah, I got it." She replied, putting the Scroll away, she quickly circles her ride around - much to Neptune's alarm - and drove off to follow them.

|—————————|—————————|

A moment later Blake and Sun somehow make it to the highways, jumping down into the busy street and continuing their escape by hopping on cars while the Paladin follows them by pushing vehicles out of the way. Sun paused to look at their pursuer's path of destruction. and offer a quick

A moment later, Blake and Sun somehow managed to make it to the highway, jumping down from the street above and into one of the busy streets below, landing on the hoods of a few cars before continuing their escape from Roman, who was still on their trail. Sun paused to looked back as the Paladin leaped over the barrier of the highway, landing right in the middle of traffic before sprinting forward, shoving aside any cars that got in its way aside without a care.

Sun: "Whoa!" He gasped, before leaping onto more cars, trying to get away from the Paladin.

Blake and Sun continued leaping from car to car, much to Roman's frustration as he continued chasing them. Then Yang and Neptune pulled up next to the Paladin on their ride, keeping pace with it.

Yang: "We've gotta slow it down!" She exclaimed.

Neptune: "Got it!" He acknowledged, and began reaching for his weapon on his back.

Roman noticed the pair on his sensors and crashed into a multitude of cars with the Paladin's strong bulk, sending them flying towards Yang and Neptune.

Yang: "Hold on!" She warned Neptune.

Neptune: "Wuh-oh... Ahhh!" He yelped as Yang accelerated.

Yang swerved, leaning her bike to the side in avoidance of flying debris while Neptune flailed in a panic. Back on two wheels again, Neptune unslings his weapon. His weapon is a gray-colored rifle with bluish light above the grip, with the area between the weapon's grip and butt end being fused, and the barrel boxy, with light gray patterns on it. When he pulls it out and turns it into its gun form, the barrel shows a blue tube of electricity being generated.

Neptune then aimed his rifle as sparks started flying, and fired four shots of blue electricity at the Paladin's back, hitting it three times, causing Roman grimace from the force of the attacks. Switching strategies, Neptune stands up on Yang's motorcycle, flipping the rifle as it changes into its guandao form, where along handle extends from the butt end and the body gets a little smaller before forming a curved blade emitting light blue energy.

Neptune spins it a few times before he jumped up into the air, the weapon now turning into a trident, and then shoots over to the Paladin, stabbing his weapon into its back. Blake stopped on one car while Sun landed on the trailer of a semi-truck and they look back at the scene.

Sun: "Neptune, hang on!" He exclaimed, seeing Neptune desperately trying his best to hang on as the top of the Paladin kept swinging and bucking around in an effort to shake Neptune off.

Closing his eyes, Sun smashed his palms together, and a yellow ball of energy explodes from them. From that, two semi-transparent golden clones of himself appeared, one wielding his staff.

The clones leaped across cars at the Paladin where upon contact, they explode with a bang, but do very little damage to it. Sun then leaped forward, with his weapon in its staff form and held it high, ready to strike. However, Roman's Paladin spins again and sends Neptune flying off and knocking into Sun, and they fall off of the highway. As Blake looked on from her spot, she gets a call from Weiss.

Weiss(Scroll-call): "Blake! I'm in position!" She called out.

Up further ahead, Weiss twirled over on another highway above them and landing in the middle of their highway, cars passing by while she holding her rapier at the approaching Paladin.

Roman smiled as his Paladin charged at her, but Weiss spins and plunged her blade into the ground, summoning a circular floor of ice across the pavement that caused the Paladin to slip just before it hit her, and crash, actually flying over Weiss and tumbling off the highway, breaking the blue holographic barrier on the edge along the way before landing on its feet in a crouch on the ground in front of Ruby and (YN), their weapons ready. The Paladin stood back up as rest of their team land beside her, their weapons drawn and taking up positions.

(YN): "Let's go." He grinned determinedly. Roman chuckled, moving the Paladin slowly towards them.

Ruby: "Freezer Burn!" She commanded Yang and Weiss' combo move before she and the others jump out of their way.

Yang jumped straight into the air while Weiss stabs her sword into the ground and making another floor of ice. Yang cocks her right shotgun gauntlet while Weiss jumped out of the way and then she slammed her fiery fist into the ice, exploding and making a dense fog appear in the area. Immediately, the Paladin's multiple sensors activated, showing red targeting beams that start scanning the area and the mech slowly walks deeper into the fog.

Roman looked around, not noticing (YN) running behind him in the fog. Blake then quickly moves past Roman's left, then Ruby zoomed past his right side, followed by (YN) racing in front of him in the fog. Roman began to turn left, and started firing at Yang and Weiss with its arm cannon as they run by, but only hits the ground. He then fires again at Yang and Blake, but misses, and then Ruby appeared out from the explosion, charging right at him and hits the Paladin dead center before bouncing backwards. She landed on the ground, reloading her weapon as (YN) came up beside her left side, and they looked at each other.

(YN): "Blue Rose!" He signaled his and Ruby's combo attack, transforming his shield into cannon form.

Ruby and (YN) charged at the Paladin, just as it fired at them, and Ruby used her Semblance while (YN) energetically zoomed in different directions simultaneously as the blast it hit the ground. They zoomed all around the Paladin as trails of rose petals and energy currents engulfed it, firing and slashing their weapons at it. (YN) then got behind the Paladin and jumped into the air, transforming his sword into pistol form, quickly charging up both of his firearms. He then front-flipped over the Paladin until he was at the front, and fired both fully charged laser bolts at the center, make it stumble back, and landed on one knee before he zoomed away.

Ruby: "Checkmate!" She signaled Weiss and Blake's combo attack.

Blake and Weiss appear by her side before they charge at the Paladin, slashing their swords at its legs a few times, before Weiss jumped up and stabs one of its sensors, rendering it useless, before forming a glyph under her feet and back-flipping away. The Paladin lifted its foot in attempt to squash Blake, but Weiss makes another glyph under Blake, pulling her away before it could crush her. Growling, Roman activates the Paladin's two rocket launchers, firing off several of them at Blake and Weiss, but they dodge the rockets with a well-timed glyph and a series of gymnastic back-handsprings.

Roman noticed Weiss jumped a little too high, and fired off the Paladin's arm cannon, unleashing a double energy blast as it hit her in mid-air. Her rapier absorbed the damage, but Weiss is thrown back. As she falls, Weiss casts a beam of light from her weapon to the ground under Blake, a mixture of yellow Dust and her Semblance creating a yellow clockwork circle that's absorbed into her. As Roman fired rockets at her, Blake glowed yellow and started slashing purple crescent waves at them, slicing the rockets in half. She makes a series of incredibly fast slashes, cutting the rockets as she lands on her feet, with many explosions occurring behind her.

Ruby: "Ladybug!" She called out her and Blake's combo move, and ran into the fray.

Ruby fired her scythe behind her, shooting her at the mech as she hooks her scythe on its crotch area, slicing it as she zooms past it. She then fires her scythe again, sending her back at it while Blake then runs at the mech from her side. The two crisscross the Paladin four times while slashing at its legs before it spins around to fire its energy cannons at Ruby behind it. Ruby and Blake jump up to avoid it, and then Roman looked up to see them diving down at him. When they get close, they slice off the Paladin's left arm entirely before jumping away.

(YN): "Yang, with me!" He hollered to Yang. "Ultramarine!" He signaled his and Yang's combo attack.

As the Paladin reeled back from the attack, Yang didn't waste a second and jumped up from behind it, landing on its back and starts punching it repeatedly with fiery shotgun blasts from her right arm. (YN) sprinted and jumped onto the Paladin's cockpit, and started punching it with a series of energy-infused left and right hooks. Roman was knocked around in the cabin, but seeing he can't reach her with his remaining arm, he can reach (YN). (YN) was about land a right hook when his main Semblance spike hard as he sees the arm cannon aiming at him.

(YN): "Whoa!" He exclaimed, and immediately deployed his shield in horizontal mode and raised it up, jumping off as the arm cannon fired. The blast hit his shield and send him flying away and landed on the ground rolling until his back hit a pillar.

Then Roman launched the Paladin backwards, slamming Yang through two pillars and into a third, leaving her embedded as the pillar crack before backing away and turning towards her. As Yang slowly falls down, the Paladin's right arm shifted to form a fist and punched Yang through the weakened pillar and onto the ground.

Blake: "Yang!" She cried out in worry, coming up beside Ruby and (YN).

Ruby: "Don't worry!" She smiled reassuringly to Blake as Yang slowly gets back on her feet. "With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back! That's what makes her special." She explained Yang's Semblance as her hair was burning a bright white.

Roman's Paladin walked up to Yang as she clenched her left fist. Sensing victory, Roman throws a right punch at her, but Yang catches it, causing a shockwave that destroys the ground behind her.

Roman growled as Yang lifted her head, eyes glowing red with rage, and with a yell, Yang smashed her knuckles into the right arm, obliterating it under her force. Getting desperate with his armless Paladin, Roman immediately kicked Yang to the side with its left leg, making her fly by in between Ruby and Blake.

Ruby: "Bumblebee!" She called out Blake and Yang's combo move.

Blake changes her sword into its chain-scythe form and throws it at Yang. Yang catches it, twisting her body in the air before landing on her feet, and started running in a wide circle, firing her gauntlets to give her an extra push. Blake pulled her around, and Yang goes to strike Roman at high speed, but his Paladin jumped back to avoid her strike.

Ruby: "We have to slow it down!" She stated as Weiss and (YN) came next to her.

Weiss: "And HOW do you propose we do that?" She asked rhetorically. 

Ruby: "Ice Flower!" She declared.

(YN): "I'll keep it still. I think it's time to test out my new move." He declared. "Wait for my signal." He instructed.

Roman looked on as (YN) energetically zoomed over to him. (YN) then jumped high into the air, spreading his arms out, and conjured eight energetic arrows. With a thrust of both hands, he launched the arrows at the Paladin, piercing through the armor. The Paladin struggled to move its legs due to the amount of damage. Once (YN) landed back onto the ground, he then made hand motions that caused the arrows to change shape into chains as they wrapped around the Paladin, slowing it down for a moment.

(YN): "NOW!" He signaled Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby spins her scythe before stabbing the blade into the ground with the barrel aimed at the Paladin while Weiss conjured up three white glyphs in front of her scythe's sniper barrel. (YN) energetically zoomed to get out of the way as Ruby fired her rounds through Weiss' glyphs, turning them into dazzling spiral of energy that creates large icicles that explode upon impact with the Paladin. Ruby continued to shoot as Weiss freezes the fire, the ice completely enveloped the Paladin's body, rendering it immobile.

Blake then swung Yang around in a circle again, her hair now on fire, and when Yang gets close, she slammed her right fist into the Paladin, sending it flying into the air. When it hit the ground, the Paladin breaks apart into many small pieces, leaving Roman exposed as he rolled on the ground before getting back onto his feet, slightly dazed but unharmed, as he inspected the damage.

Roman: "Just got this thing cleaned." He grumbled, brushing himself off.

Roman looked over to Yang and she fired a shot at him, but he was saved at the last instant when a new arrival dropped in front of him and merely opened an umbrella, deflecting the blast like a shield. The new arrival hanged her umbrella over her right shoulder to reveal a short girl with her hair half pink, half brown, and having white streaks in the pink half, smiling all the while at Team RWBY running up to them. She has heterochromia, with her left eye being pink and her right eye being brown. She is wearing a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and gray boots with very high heels. Under her jacket is a black corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She also has on multiple beaded necklaces, which hang haphazardly around her neck.

Her umbrella is elaborately decorated in lace fabric with multiple colors, being mostly pink and white (in the middle) as well as red and brown (at the edges) and is somewhat translucent.

Roman: "Ladies. Blue. Ice Queen..." He addressed, the last part aimed at Weiss.

Weiss: "Hey!" She retorted.

Roman: "Always a pleasure!" He waved at them, smugly before turning to the girl in front of him. "Neo, if you would..."

The pink-and-brown girl, now know as Neo, curtsies her enemies with a polite bow, but Yang will have none of it, and rushed forward to punch Neo, who moves to block the attack with her umbrella. However, as soon as Yang strikes her with her left fist, a cyan wall appeared for a split second, and the wall, Neo, and Roman appear to shatter like glass. The shards collapse to the ground and Yang looked around for them, only to look up to her left just in time to see them escaping in a Bullhead, the side door closing as they get away. The rest of team RWBY runs up to Yang's side, now cooled down with the end of the fight.

(YN): "Great." He sighed. "He got away."

Yang: "So I guess he got a new henchman." She noted.

Weiss: "Yeah, I guess she really made our plans... fall apart!" She smiled cheekily, attempting to make a pun. Ruby and (YN) giggled, but Blake just walked away

Yang: "No. Just... no." She criticized Weiss' terrible pun.

Weiss: "What- But, you do it!" She retorted, hand on her hips.

Yang: "There's a time and a place for jokes." She explained, hands on her hips.

Weiss: "Was this not it?" She questioned.

Yang: "No, it just wasn't very good." She replied, and followed Blake.

Weiss: "Well, at least I'm trying!" She remarked before following them.

Ruby: "Wait... Where are Sun and Neptune?" She asked, noticing the two other boys still gone.

(YN): "Yeah, I haven't seen them." He added, wondering where they have gone.

|—————————|—————————|

Sun and Neptune were sitting on the stools of a small open-bar restaurant that went by the name, "A Simple Wok Noodle House". Sun and Neptune occupied the middle stools, their weapons placed against the two empty seats on each side as they ate their plates of noodles with Shopkeep behind the counter.

Neptune: "They're probably fine, right?" He asked Sun.

Sun: "Probably." He assured Neptune simply, and then they go back to eating their noodles.

|—————————|—————————|

Yang: "Eh, they're probably fine." She replied simply with a shrug.

Ruby: "Well," She stretched hers arms as she turned back to the team. "we finally did what we were going to do! Let's discuss everything back at the dorm!" She declared.

Weiss: "Yeah... I can use the rest..." She yawned. "Next time, let's plan this more accordingly." Everyone laughed, and they started to walk away from the area. As they did, (YN) tapped Ruby on the shoulder to get her attention and for her to stop.

(YN): "Hey, Ruby?" He spoke.

Ruby: "Yeah?" She answered, looking over her shoulder at him.

(YN): "Umm..." He scratched his cheek a bit, as he gained a red tint on his face. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" Ruby watched as the other walked on a bit, before facing him.

Ruby: "Sure, what is it?" She asked.

(YN): "About what happened back at the park..." He looked down slightly. "I want to say I'm sorry." He apologized. Ruby blinked for a second, before her eyes widened slightly as she remembered exactly what he was talking about.

Ruby: "O-Oh, umm..." Her face took a pink shade as she averted her gaze. "That. I'm sorry, too." She apologized back.

(YN): "You probably hated it, don't you?" He inquired.

Ruby: "What?!" She immediately looked back him. "No, no, no, I don't hate it, really!" She defended, her hands raised up. "I mean..." She blushed as she started to rub her arm, looking away shyly. "It was kinda nice." She admitted. (YN) was surprised at this, but smiled softly.

(YN): "Yeah." He paused for a moment. "It felt nice, too." He agreed with her admittedly. 

Ruby turned her head to him, as their gazes locked on to each other. Slowly, she smiled as (YN)'s heart hammered into his chest. For a split second, his eyes flickered down to her lips, and thought to lean in closer to feel them again. Ruby was doing the same thing as she stood on her toes. They were about to do it again like they did back at the park until...

Yang: "Hey, lovebirds!" She hollered, causing both (YN) and Ruby to jolt back into reality as they back away before they looked over to her, waving at them with Weiss and Blake beside her. "You two coming or what?"

(YN): "Yeah, we're coming!" He hollered back. He and Ruby looked at each briefly.

(YN)/Ruby: "Sorry." They both immediately apologized at once, both avoiding the other's looks. He chuckled slightly at the simultaneous apology.

(YN): "You don't need to apologize." He reassured Ruby. "That was my fault, really, for bringing it back up." Ruby glanced in him in confusion for a moment before laughing lightly with him.

Ruby: "It's fine, don't worry about it." She reassured back shyly, rubbing her own arm in probably embarrassment.

(YN): "Come on. Let's all go home." With that, he and Ruby jogged over to the three girls waiting for them.

However, unknown to the girls and (YN), a mysterious figure had been watching the entire fight from the broken barrier of the highway above. He only wears a black cloak with his hood up, covering his face. He stared at Team RWBY as they leave the area. But, his gaze was only focused on (YN).

???: "So that's Godred's little wonder boy." He mused darkly. "This should be interesting." He raised his right fist up, and a familiar fire-like energy engulfed it, like (YN)'s, but this one is dark red. "Very interesting."

To Be Continued...